AIRCRAFT STRESSED SKIN STRUCTURE
Objective
The purpose of this project was to fabricate a section of an aircraft stress skin structure based on a design schematic. Stressed skin is a form of aircraft construction where an aircraft's external skin carries part and, in some situations, most of the main loads on the structure. Stressed skin sustains a large portion of the load imposed upon an aircraft structure. The second objective of this project was to repair damage to the stressed skin structure based on industry standards.
Main structural members
Technical Description
The main components of the stress skin structure are the skin, longhorn, stringer, frame, and bulkhead. A bulkhead is a structure that separates the different sections of the aircraft. Its purpose is also to redistribute the concentrated loads around structures such as wings, landing gear attachments and pressure boundaries. The component is made out of aluminium 2024-O (annealed). The skin of the structure is made of aluminium 2024-T3. The skin serves as the template for construction and repairs. The curvature of the skin was designed to conform to the contour of the bulkhead. Stringer is a vertical support structural member where the skin is fastened. It also serves to transfer loads and stresses from the aircraft skin. This component is made of aluminium 2024-T3. The components were riveted together with the use of the 2017-T4 rivet. The landing light hat bracket and the support for the window assembly are constructed out of aluminium 2024-T3, and the small window is made out of plexiglass. The hat and support brackets were attached with special rivets: Rivnut AE-120. The window assembly was attached to the skin with the use of a 6-32 pan head screw.
After the construction of the skin structure, the instructor added damage to the structure. The two damages were repaired using a flush patch and surface patch. Both of these patches were made out of aluminium 2024-T3, the same material as the structure's skin.
Result
The project served its purpose in demonstrating how the aircraft skin structure is constructed. The stress skin structure was successfully manufactured with use of the design schematics. The repairs made on the skin structure was also successful in repairing the damages.
Design schematic slideshow
